Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute as a pyramid-shaped cloth canopy intended to slow a person’s descent.
His famous drawing appears in the Codex Atlanticus and is usually dated to around 1485. The design consists of a large wooden framework covered with fabric. Leonardo reasoned that a person could descend safely from a great height beneath the canopy, although he did not document a completed test.
The concept resembles a parachute because it uses air resistance to reduce falling speed. It differs from modern parachutes, which generally use flexible, domed canopies that open after deployment. Leonardo’s rigid pyramid form would have been bulky and difficult to control, and its exact performance depends on its dimensions and construction.
The idea is often described as centuries ahead of its time, but Leonardo was not the first person to imagine a descent device using a canopy. Still, his drawing is one of the clearest early technical treatments of parachute-like equipment. In 2000, Adrian Nicholas tested a replica based on the sketch, then used a modern parachute for the final descent.